Maximum cases under NDPS Act reported from Maharashtra, followed by Punjab: MHA

Mukesh Ranjan
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 20

The government on Tuesday informed Lok Sabha that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) registered 1,99,716 cases related to drug trafficking between 2017 and 2019 with the maximum reported from Maharashtra (40,987), followed by Punjab (35,546).

Responding to a written question in the House Minister of State (MoS), Home Nityanand Rai said, “Sharp vigil, effective surveillance, public cooperation, source-based intelligence, sensitisation of field officials for better enforcement etc have resulted in gradual increase in registration of number of drug trafficking-related cases in the country.”

He said that the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) is the central agency, which compiles the data on crimes, as reported by States and Union Territories (UTs), and publishes the same in its annual publication “Crime in India”.

Rai said that the latest published report is for the year 2019. “The State/UT-wise details of cases registered under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substance (NDPS) Act-1985 for the year 2017, 2018 and 2019 are 63,800, 63,137 and 72,779 respectively,” he said.

As per the NCRB data among the top five states, besides Maharashtra and Punjab, Kerala registered 27,913 cases, Uttar Pradesh 26,458 and Tamil Nadu 11,858.

Among the northern states after Punjab, it was Haryana, which recorded the highest with 7,464 followed by Himachal Pradesh with 3,791 and Jammu & Kashmir 3,102.

Delhi, among the UTs, registered the highest number of 1,595 of such cases in the three years followed by Chandigarh with 648.

The Minister said that the government has taken various steps for the prevention of drug trafficking in the country. He said for coordination among various Central and State agencies, the Narco Coordination Centre (NCORD) mechanism was set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the year 2016 for effective Drug Law Enforcement.

“This NCORD system has been restructured into a four-tier scheme up to district level by MHA on July 29, 2019, for better coordination. For monitoring the investigation of large seizure cases, a Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) with Director General (DG), NCB as its Chairman was set up by the government on July 19, 2019,” he said.

He also said that for digitisation of pan-India drug seizure data, MHA has launched an e-portal called 'SIMS' (Seizure Information Management System) in the year 2019 for all the drug law enforcement agencies under the mandate of Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. He said that financial assistance under the scheme “Assistance to States for Narcotics Control” is provided by MHA to eligible States for strengthening their narcotic units.

Rai also said that Border Security Force (BSF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Indian Coast Guard, Railway Protection Force and National Investigation Agency (NIA) have been empowered under the NDPSA Act for making interdiction of narcotic drugs in remotest and far-flung areas of the country.

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